Online ad network Adknowledge raises $200 million

Adknowledge, an online advertising network, said today it had raised $200 million that it will use to make acquisitions in the United States and internationally.

The money came from a combination of debt financing through Bank of America and equity financing through JMI Equity, a company that focuses on software, web and business services firms. A spokesman for Adknowledge declines to give more details about the nature of the funding.

Adknowledge, founded in 2004, is privately owned and says it serves 10,000 advertisers who seek to reach consumers through e-mail, social networks, casual gaming and search. The company calls itself a “long tail marketplace” and says it can place ads on niche sites where advertisers can reach a very specific kind of consumer.

“It's easy to advertise with Google, Bing and Facebook, but much tougher to reach the rest of the Internet because it's so fragmented," says Scott Lynn, CEO of Adknowledge. "We believe there are currently too many intermediary companies that make it very confusing and inefficient for advertisers to buy and execute their advertising campaigns across the tail. With this new investment, we will continue to further our goal of creating a 'must buy' marketplace for online advertisers."

Brad Woloson, general partner at JMI Equity, has joined Adknowledge's board of directors. The company says it has 300 employees and earns $300 million in annual revenue.